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VMware’s Annual Gathering Is Bigger & Better Than Ever

August 31, 2018— What happens in Vegas….is always memorable! VMworld 2018, VMware’s premier infrastructure event for customers, was jam-packed with the latest in innovation for companies looking to accelerate their digital transformation.

VMware customers came out in full force for the August 26-30 event, packing general sessions with an attendance average of 25,000 in the house and 100,000 watching via livestream. And from inspiring keynotes by speakers such as Malala, the world’s youngest Nobel Prize winner, to hundreds of educational sessions on today’s hottest digital infrastructure topics, to a night-time Happy Hour with us, the Groupware gang, the past five days were a sensory, educational and fun overload!

The Groupware gang, about a dozen strong, were all over VMworld 2018, from dusk to dawn. Among our favorite highlights were:

VMware gets a multi-cloud management solution. VMworld this year kicked off with tech-world headline-worthy news as VMware announced its “VMware Cloud Operations” with the acquisition of CloudHealth Technologies. This cloud management platform provides VMware with a multi-cloud management offering that works across AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. VMware customers will soon be able to manage their entire cloud environment from cost to performance, through a single interface. VMware also plans to add other offerings from their current product portfolio into the CloudHealth Suite of Services to enable CloudHealth as the cloud operations platform of choice. Groupware Technology has been a CloudHealth partner and we look forward to continuing to bring their cloud management solutions to customers with the expanded suite that will include VMware products.

“Technology Superpowers” general session. VMworld’s 2018 first general session, in addition to the VMware Cloud Operations announcement, featured a commemorative look at VMware’s 20th anniversary and revisited where the company has been and where it is now. A main theme running through this general session was using technology to do good throughout the world. VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger also looked at the four superpowers of the current tech era: cloud, mobile, AI/machine, and Edge/Iot, noting that with the leap VMware is now taking into the multi-cloud era, the company is embarking on yet a new act of its storied history.

Malala’s keynote speech/empowering girls in education. “The second day keynote with Malala was absolutely amazing! Such an inspirational woman!” Our Professional Services Architect Steven Mitchell echoed the thoughts of everyone in attendance regarding the presentation from the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history. The packed audience was enraptured by the 21-year-old international motivational speaker, who gave her powerful perspective on the challenges and opportunities that girls all over the world face in their communities. VMware reps also announced they would be contributing to the Malala Fund in its work to advocate for girls’ education. Steven also noted that with as many VMworld’s he has attended in his career, he has noticed and is gratified to see the significant increase in the emergence of highly talented women in the tech industry. Very cool!

AWS Announces Amazon RDS on VMware. One of the biggest announcements was the joint announcement by VMware and AWS revealing their plans to launch Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) on VMware. This service will make it easy for customers to set up, operate and scale databases in VMware-based software-defined data centers and hybrid environments and migrate them to AWS or VMware Cloud on AWS.

NSX Cloud Deployment Deep Dive and Architecture session. Of the many sessions that were offered at VMworld, our Senior Solutions Architect Mohammad Raza particularly enjoyed this session, which is a deep dive into NSX Cloud. Attendees learned more about the architecture of NSX Cloud and the design calls that were developed to make this the SDN product of choice for the cloud–and rated by CRN as one of the 10 best SDN solutions for 2018. This session also covered real-world deployments and use-cases to help design hybrid cloud deployments.

The parties. Hey, it’s Vegas. Of course the parties will be a highlight! We had a great time hanging out and catching up with numerous customers and partners at our Happy Hour at the ultra-chic Eyecandy Lounge on Tuesday night and appreciate all the support from VMware. And at VMworld Fest, the VMware appreciation party on Wednesday night, attendees were treated to four different environments, three entertainment stages and tons of food trucks representing cuisines from all over the globe. A particular highlight for us at VMworld Fest: Steven Mitchell and Mohammad Raza had a chance to take pics with the man of the hour himself, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger!

Needless to say, our team had a great time! VMworld never fails to amaze, educate and surprise us! Thanks again to our partner VMware for five fantastic days—we are just off the plane from Vegas and already looking forward to VMworld 2019!